Car-wheel fender



J` F. THOMPSON.

CAR WHEEL FENDER.

APPLICATION min JULY H. |921.

'1,39'?,825, Pmnelltfd Nov. 22, 15%21.

UNITED' STATES JOSEPH F. THOMPSON, 0F MARIETTA, OHIO.

CAR-WHEEL FENDER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV. 22, 1921.

Application filed July 1-1, 1921. SerialNo. 483,929.

To ZZ 'whom 1f may concern.'

Be it known that I, .losser-I F. TnoMrsox, a citizen of the United States. residing at Marietta, in the county ot lVashington and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Theel Fenders; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ot the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved fender which is especially designed ior use in connection with `car wheels. the same being disposed in close proximity to the track and having a portion extended crosswise ot thelatter and a portion extending in parallelism with one side ot the wheel with which it co-acts, the fender itselt' beinev so shaped that when y'it strikes an obstruction, it will lift the same and carry it rearwardly outward out ot' the path ot' the wheels, journal boxes and other parts of vthe car. Thus` in case persons or animals are caught on the track, the improved fender will serve to' move them out of the path oi' the car and in many instances without severely injuring them.

Another and important feature ot the invention is to provide a safety deviceI of this class wherein the fender is pivotally mounted and is capable of being swung alongside of the wheel so that it can be positioned'in an out-of-the-way place to permit eiiectlve ilse of a wheel gage without necessitating removal ot the wheel tender and without interfering with free use of the aforesaid gage.

Another object of the invention is to pro-' vide a device of this class wherein when the fender is swung to the position above mentioned, it will be slightly elevatedand will clear the track sufficiently far to permit free access to be had to the wheel for gaging purposes and the like.

A still further object of' the invention is to lprovide a safety device for use in connection with car wheels which is such in construction that the fender is automatically returned to operative position and the spring which serves toaccomplish this, is unanchored, permitting it and -the pivot pin to be conveniently removed from the bearings through which the pivot pin extends.

Other objects and advantages ot the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

. extremely rigid.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

Figure l is an elevational view of 4the truck ot a railway car equipped with safety devices constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of one of the devices shown in use. i i

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one side ot the device.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of the opposite side ot the device.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig, 4 showing the catch disengaged and the tender swung on its pivot and away from the attaching bracket.

Referring to the drawings, lV designates a pair 'ot flanged car wheels and B designates the journal boxes which are associated therewith, whileR designates the rail. Here, it-may be stated that each individual wheel is designed to be equipped with its own tender or guard'. l

Referring' to the parts of the guard b v numerals, l designates a substantially U- shaped attaching bracket which is designed to be bolted or otherwise secured to the journal box. to state that although I have `shown two guards in use in Fig. l, for the sake ot clearness. l will confine the description to singular terms. it being'understood' that where such terms appeal' they refer to all duplicate parts appearing on the drawing. Proceeding, it is to be pointed out that a tender 9. is pivotally connected with this bracket l by novel means to be hereinafter described and while this t'ender may be constructed otherwise, it is preferably formed from two plates which are riveted or otherwise secured together at their forward ends and are spaced apart at their rear ends to permit reinforcing and filler block 3 of wedge-shape to be positioned between them to render the fender, As before indicated, the fender is so shaped that when it comes into engagement with an object in its path, it serves to liit that object, carry it outwardly and rearwardly and deposit it along the side of the track so that it'will be out of the path oi" the wheels and all projecting parts of the car truck. feature of the invention it will be seen that the plates forming the fender are disposed Betere proceeding further. l wish.

In carrying out this s the wheel as indicated finwardly so as to extend in front of the 1 fder is pivotally connected with theattaching' y over'the portion tread ot' the wheel and thereby become disosed cross-wise ot .the rails. It 'is to be noted that the curved portion 4 of the fender has its free edge inclined Ydownwardly as shown and its lower corner 5 curved laterally as indicated. Hence., when this portion '5 of the fendercoines into engagement with an object, it serves first to litt said obliect upwardly and lay it against the broad curved surface 4 ot' the fender. During the travel of the car, the object is then carried rearwardly over this curved-surface and 3 and in this way deposited alongside ot the track where itI will beout or" the path of the wheels and any projecting part ot the underfrarne ot the car. is before pointed out, this particular shapingfoi' the `fender will be :Found extremely advantageous in cases where persons or animals are caught by the tender, as it will practically permit them to escape severe injury by being 'caught' and thrown to a point ot safety.

It-has been before indicated that the tenbracket. To this end, the bracket is equipped with upper and lower integral hearings 6 and 7 while the fender is equipped with a plate Sicarrying upper and lower bearings 9 and 10 for cooperation with the first-named Attention is here directed to the tact that the abutting edges ot the lower bearings T and l0 are cut as shown at 11 to iffivide co-acting cani surfaces. fi. removable pintle 12 is passed through these bearings and thus serves to connect the fender to the attaching bracket. It is yet to be pointed out that a coiled spring 1l loosely surrounds the pintle between the bearings G and 10. ln order to permit` quick separation ot the b acket and tender and removal ot the pintle, the ends ot' the coiled spring 13 aie not anchored. However.y this spring bearings.

' will serve to automaticallyT swing and maintain the tender in operative position because of the action ot the cani co-acting surfaces ll on the aforesaid lower bearing. By ex anilniiig the showing iii Fig. 5, it will besccn how this is accomplished. ln tliistig nre the 'lender has been partially7 swung away troni the track and to a positionfat approximate right angles thereto, this be ing donatopermit access to be had tothe Jforward portion ot' the wheel for conveniently using a gage or other tool. ln Inoving the tender in this manner, the cam surlaces oithc lower bearings raise the, tender slightly and in so doing` compresses the coiled spring Ai3 and it is thc. tendency ot 'this spring as soon as the i'endcr is released to automatically Swinguy the 'fonder to its normal incassa' operative position. This leads me to say that it 'is desirable to maintain the fender in this last named position and to accomplish it l make use of a resilient latch ill which l rigidly secure to the inner face of one of ,the plates ot'the fender so that the nose ot this latch 'will automatically engage the intermediate connecting portion oit' the attaching bracket as shown in Fig. et. l

Assuming that the tenders are in the positions indicated in Fig.. l, it will he seen that as the car is in motion and in case an obstruction is lying on or close to the track,

when the tender engages it, the curved cor-y deposited alongside the track at a point olf' safety. in case it is desired 'to obtain access to that portion of the 'wheel covered by the tender, the latter can he swung on its pivot by {irst disengaging the latch 11i and moving it awa from the wheel.v As before indi# cated, when the tender is so moved, it causes the spring 13 to compress owing to the ac tion ot the cam iro-acting surfaces lit on the lower bearings '7 and l0, thisresult being brought about as the bearing 10 approaches the bearing 6. as soon, however, as the terr der is released, the springl tends to resume its normal state and causes the cain'surtace on one bearing to ride on the corresponding surface of the .bearing` which it 13o-acts, inthis way permitting the unanchored spring to automatically swing the fender to its operative position. Emphasis is to be laid on this construction in View of the actthat it permits 'the pintle to be easily removed so as to permit the tender to loo disconnected 'from the attaching bracket for any desired reason.

By caretully considering the description in connection with the drawings, persons fainiliar with devices ot this class will doubtless lie able to obtain a clear understanding of the inventioin Therefore, a more lengthy and detailed description is deemed unnecessary. Since probably the best results may he ohtaincd with the construction and'arrangement herein shown and described, this is taken as the preferred .embodiment of the invention. lHowever, li. wish it to he under-` stood that minor changes coming within the scope ot the subjoined claims may loey resorted to it desired. lclaiin:

directed in trent oft the wheel tread and en# Y tending across the track, 'the lower edge ont the fender being disposed in close proximity to the track, and co-acting means between the bracket and fender for automatically lifting the latter when it is swung to inoperative position, whereby it will clear the track suiiiciently far to enable free access to the wheel to be had. f

2. A wheel fender comprising a U-shaped attaching bracket including laterally disl0 posed bearings, a `fender likewise provided with bearings for co-action with the first namedv bearings, ca1n coacting means between one ofthe bearings on the fender and on the bracket, a pivot pin passing through said bearings, and a coiled spring surround- 15 ing the pin between the bearings.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. l

l JOSEPH F. THOMPSON. 

